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Village Mourns Georgia's Olympic Luger Kumaritashvili

Family members and friends laid to rest Georgia's Olympic luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, in a burial that marked both a personal and national tragedy.

Flying in by helicopter, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appeared in the crowded yard outside of the Kumaritashvili house and embraced the luger's pale-faced father, Davit Kumaritashvili, who clasped a framed photo of his son in his hands.

Kumaritashvili died on Feb. 12, 2010, after crashing into a steel beam during a practice run on a luge track at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Dressed in the uniform of the Georgian Olympic team, President Saakashvili, at times barely restraining his tears, was one of a few hundred people who gathered in Bakuriani, about three and a half hours outside of Tbilisi, to commemorate the 21-year-old athlete’s death. First Lady Sandra Roelofs, Parliamentary Speaker Davit Bakradze and Minister of Culture, Monument Protection and Sport Nikoloz Rurua also attended the funeral.

Sympathizers traveled from throughout Georgia to pay their respects. Fifty-two-year-old Dr. Tariel Surmanidze from the Black Sea town of Batumi, some 150 kilometers away, said that he came to support Bakuriani’s residents and the boy’s parents. "I was shocked. All of Batumi was shocked," said Surmanidze. "I imagine how devastated Bakuriani must have been."

Residents of Bakuriani, a popular winter sports vacation site, did indeed seem devastated. Many appeared stunned; some, walking past photos of Kumaritashvili posted on buildings, could not contain their tears.

Kumaritashvili was buried at a church in the village center. The priest who delivered the funeral oration called for the construction of a new luge track as a way for the International Olympic Committee and the Government of Canada to commemorate the luger’s death.

No official response to the proposal was available. Georgian government representatives, however, maintain that every effort will be made to preserve Kumaritashvili’s memory.

"[H]e died for Georgia," Parliamentary Speaker Bakradze commented to television reporters.